Memories of Photography

I remember staying up with my dad up into the wee hours of the morning. My Dad used to be a professional photographer and he had built a dark room in his garage. In fact, before moving there, while living in an apartment, he’d transformed the extra bathroom into a darkroom! Anway, we’d go in there and I’d help develop pictures and produce slides. The rule was that as he was developing the pics “I could not open the door!” Then, we’d go to the room that was his office, where there was a large wooden box with a white glass on top and a light inside, which was built by my Dad to view slides. He’d pop a hundred slides on there and we’d get the little magnifying glass, place it over a slide, and view them. I especially enjoyed looking at all his underwater photos he had taken while scuba diving.

I also recall my dad having the background paper set up in the living room. There he photographed me more times than I care to remember. He would get so frustrated with me, because I wouldn’t lay my hand just right or turn or tilt my head enough or too much. Now that I photograph my kids, I see what he was trying to do and it IS frustrating trying to get that perfect shot.

My dad was a freelance photographer, so he photographed all sorts of stuff, including beautiful models. I remember seeing blondes, brunettes, and a few red heads, but regardless they were always tall and thin. He’d ‘shoot’ them at his apartment in front of that famous background paper and outdoors in front of beautiful landscapes. Most of the time I wasn’t with him when he photographed them. I just saw the end results, which I was so amazed with! Later my Dad starting pursuing a career in real estate, because photography wasn’t as lucrative as he had hoped as a young lad just out of high school. So years later he sold all his photography equipment and concentrated fully on real estate.

This year I’ve been able to spend more time with my dad than I have in many years. He’d recently treated himself to a new camera and stated that he was feeling that ‘itch’ to get into photography again. Not as a business, but as a hobbie, which I think is a great idea. I watched him take photos of my kids and it brought back all these wonderful memories of photography…